By the age of three years (as Professor Hermann Bondi has remarked) we have all learned as much physics as we will ever learn again: that is to say, we quickly build up a working knowledge of our physical environment, and this patter, so early established, forms the basis of our later, more sophisticated, understanding. Can the same kind of claim be made of our grasp of social relationships, and the formation of our personalities? The Formative Years, originally broadcast in the BBC Third Programme, presented some recent thinking on the forces which mould our development, and the processes by which they take effect. The series was not intented to cover all aspects of current research; some significant theorizing (such as Dr. R.D. Liag's analysis of the family context) had, for various reasons, to be omitted. What was eventually broadcast, and is here published, took the form of a collection of samples. Professor Trasler's introductory summary makes further preface unnecessary: if what follows brings some insight into the reader's familiar context, and gives him, through the inner understanding, greater access to himself, then the purposes of those who compiled these samples will have been well served. -- from Preface (p. [vii]).

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